IESE

September 6, 2022
October 13, 2021
January 10, 2023
March 14, 2023

Essay: Impact

Prompt: Tell us about a time that you created impact on an individual, company or community? What did you learn from it? (300 words maximum)

Obviously, IESE is not looking for a story about a time that you did something that sort of impacted something or someone in a minor way for about a week.

IESE is looking for IMPACT, in a lasting and meaningful way.

The "impact" that you select tells IESE something about your values.

Of course, many people's stories overlap two of these categories: personal/professional, personal/community, business/community. There is no wrong answer, but the story that you choose to tell does say something about you.

Here are some of the things that IESE hopes to learn about you.  

"What are some of the tough choices you have made? ... How you have made a difference in your community? What is important to you in your life and why?" - IESE MBA Admissions

The second part of the prompt is, of course, equally important. What did you learn? If you made a truly major impact, then you will have brought away some lessons that you could share with your IESE classmates. Lessons include:

Essay: Short-term Career Goals and Why IESE

Prompt: What are your short-term and mid-term post-MBA goals? How will the IESE MBA program help you achieve them? (300 words maximum)

Begin by breaking down the essay question:

For the last question, you should think of the answer in four ways:

Optional Essay

Prompt: What would you like to highlight about yourself or your journey which may have not been captured in your application? (300 words)

There are three ways to approach this essay. One way is to explain anything that Admissions Committee might consider to be a blemish on your application. Don't make them guess. This space can also be used to address any extenuating circumstances that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. Use to address:

Tell the Admissions Committee what happened and why it happened. Be honest in your self-evaluation. Most importantly, tell them what you have learned from a negative experience, and how this learning has influenced future actions.

You can also use the essay to address "gray areas," areas that are not actually a negative but that the Admissions Committee might question. This might include:

Use this essay to turn a potential weakness into a strength. Create a persuasive argument that you have valuable knowledge to bring to IESE. (You can always brainstorm with me.)

Another option is to use this essay to talk about something that you are proud of but cannot be found on your professional resume. Examples might be:

... anything that demonstrates a particular characteristic of yours.

Scholarship Essay

Prompt: How do you plan to finance your MBA and why do you think you deserve a scholarship? (500 words)

Tell the Admissions Committee how the scholarship will allow you to prepare for your post-MBA future. For example, if you are planning to become an entrepreneur in the future, or work for / start a non-profit, you will need to begin setting aside the funds today; a scholarship will help you to put more aside for your goals.